But gear was never hard to get. Normal 8 mans and the current 24 man raid usually drop gear that's more than enough for everything in the game below Savage, not to mention Tomes. You never had to pay millions to gear, it was just a luxury. Max level raid gear handed over on a plate just isn't necessary.
It damages more than the economy when endgame items are too accessible. There's a reason most MMO's don't just hand everything over once you hit 80 and raids have loot lockouts. It means less reason to run Normal raids, dungeons and Alliances. Crafting no longer keeps players occupied. Things like Materia are worthless as rewards. I doubt it was intended for everything to be this cheap at all.